Headlines

WSJ

Youth unemployment at … 22.9%?

Those figures actually understate the severity of the problem, however. The government only considers people “unemployed” if they’re actively looking for work. People who stop looking—whether they’re retired, in school, raising a family or living on friends’ couches — are instead considered “not in the labor force,” even if they would prefer to work given the opportunity.

When the recession began in December, 2007, 59.2% of the under-25 population was in the labor force, meaning they were either working or looking for work. Today, that figure has fallen to 54.5%. That may not sound like a big drop, but it makes a huge difference. If the so-called participation rate had remained unchanged, there would be 1.8 million more young people in the labor force today than there actually are. Counting those people as unemployed, rather than out of the labor force, would push the unemployment rate up to 22.9%. That’s only a hair better than the 23.9% youth unemployment rate in the euro zone, and has shown only very modest improvement during the recovery.

For those of you who still think it’s all the retiring baby boomers that’s driving down the labor force participation rate (and thus the unemployment rate), here’s the seasonally-unadjusted labor force participation rate by age group for March:

16-24 years old – 52.8% (worst March since 1966)

25-34 years old – 81.1% (worst March since 1983)

35-44 years old – 82.3% (worst March since 1984)

45-54 years old – 79.6% (worst March since 1988)

55-59 years old – 73.4% (3th-best March since records began in 1977, behind only 2009 and 2010)

60-64 years old – 55.0% (4th-best March since records began in 1977, behind only 2009, 2010 and 2012)

65-69 years old – 32.4% (2nd-best March since records began in 1982, behind only 2011)

70-74 years old – 18.3% (tied for 2nd-best March since records began in 1987, behind only 2011)

75 years old and older – 8.4% (best March since records began in 1987)

My daughter is still in school but has been unable to find any kind of part time employment. Luckily she is smart and has been going through school on grants and scholarships. She is really starting to panic because she has not gotten a single call from any of the applications she has submitted for employment in June when she finally finishes. She says that only a couple of her school mates have gotten calls from employers and they are starting to think that their employment possibilities are very small.

My son said only a few others from his class got jobs in their field. He is a Mechanical Engineer. It took him two year to get hired full time in his field and it isn’t even a good job. He hopes to put in a couple of years and then get a better employer. He even asked about employment where I work which shocked me because he said he would never work in the type of industry I do.

Imagine nearly 2 million more people paying taxes instead of contributing nothing or even worse sucking on the government teat? We’re in the verge of a lost generation in this country.

Doughboy on April 8, 2013 at 8:34 AM

The 1.8 Million is just young people!
For all age groups, it’s over 12 Million!

The last full month that Republicans controlled the House, Senate, and Presidency, December 2006, the Employment-Population ratio was 63.4%.

In March 2013, after the Democrats holding 2+ of the House, Senate, and Presidency for six and a quarter years, was 58.5%.

The difference (63.4% – 58.5%) is 4.9% of our civilian noninstitutional population age 16 years+.

If we had the same Employment-Population ratio now as we had in December 2006 (after 12 continuous years of the Republicans holding 2+ of the House, Senate, and Presidency), over 12 Million more people would be employed right now!

According to table A-1, the civilian noninstitutional population age 16 years+ in March 2013 was 244,995,000.

4.9% * 244,995,000 = 12,004,755

Over 12 Million people who are not employed now, but would be if we had the same Employment-Population ratio now as we had in December 2006 when Republicans last controlled the House, Senate, and Presidency!

On January 3, 2007, then-Senators Obama, Biden, and Clinton, along with new Speaker Nancy Pelosi and new Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid inherited a GOOD economy from the Republicans.

It is the Democrats who tanked the economy and made 58.5% employment the “new normal”, and it’s likely to go even lower as more of Obamacare kicks in.

The best months of Obama’s pResidency were those at the very start of his term. The worst month under Bush was better than the best month under Obama. There has been NO RECOVERY in the Employment-Population ratio. It has not been above 58.7% since August 2009.

Meh. I’m in my mid 30s and I don’t understand this attitude. The youth vote is generally not that large and while Obama turned out a lot of “fans,” the majority of the vote is (as always) older people who voted benefits for themselves. Furthermore, the current school system is staffed by and is a a product of the boomers so they don’t even have the necessary intellectual tools to evaluate the Obama administration in the first place.

If you think the kids aren’t living up to the standards of previous generations, ask yourself: what have you done to help get them ready for the real world?

Kids today live entirely in the liberal fantasy world. From television, to school, to their after-school activies, to the way most parents are conditioned to teach their children. The messages they get are to be passive, don’t rock the boat, and count on government to fix their problems. They learn early on in life that you can coast, get a free lunch, and turn to society for help instead of relying on yourself.

Kids today live entirely in the liberal fantasy world. From television, to school, to their after-school activies, to the way most parents are conditioned to teach their children. The messages they get are to be passive, don’t rock the boat, and count on government to fix their problems. They learn early on in life that you can coast, get a free lunch, and turn to society for help instead of relying on yourself.

hawksruleva on April 8, 2013 at 10:06 AM

That’s pretty much how I look at it. They are trained from birth to be utterly clueless as to how the real world works and a majority of them are really shocked when they just go to look for a job. Most of them can’t conceive of what life is like in other countries – they can barely handle the US outside the liberal education bubble.

If you think the kids aren’t living up to the standards of previous generations, ask yourself: what have you done to help get them ready for the real world?

Kids today live entirely in the liberal fantasy world. From television, to school, to their after-school activies, to the way most parents are conditioned to teach their children. The messages they get are to be passive, don’t rock the boat, and count on government to fix their problems. They learn early on in life that you can coast, get a free lunch, and turn to society for help instead of relying on yourself.

hawksruleva on April 8, 2013 at 10:06 AM

*applause*
So true..I am turning 40 in a few weeks
and see a stark contrast from my youth
to the times of today. So much has changed..
I hardley believe it at times.

I worked full time to put myself through college,came out with zero debt and got a career going rather quickly. I give my mom that credit, in addition to where things were in the 90’s.
I would not want to be collage age right now…we had it good.
I hope some lesson comes of this for this generation..

Most of them can’t conceive of what life is like in other countries – they can barely handle the US outside the liberal education bubble.

Doomberg on April 8, 2013 at 10:28 AM

True.
A good majority can’t even conceive what life is like 100 miles
outside their city or even their state.
The stupid is astounding.
They also can no longer spell,write or communicate effectively.
PC’s and phones do it for them.
They lack in social skills and critical thinking. So sad.

On the anecdotal level, most of my peers are underemployed or jobless, even though most of them have advanced and technical degrees. I myself was unemployed for a good 5 months after my graduation in May. I cannot imagine what it’s like for those do not have those qualifications.